Does Removing Detailed Eyes Make 3D Models Permissible?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

If I replace the detailed, realistic eyes of a pre-made 3D creature model (Godzilla) with a featureless glowing light, does it now have “incomplete features,” making it permissible to use in fights with other fictional creatures?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Changing the eyes as you described does not make the image incomplete on its own. In the Hanafi school, an image is considered complete if it has a head and a face that looks like a living face from a normal distance. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Even as glowing lights, the eyes are still seen as eyes, and the creature still appears complete with a head, face, and detailed body. The exception applies only if the head is removed, the face cannot be recognized, a vital limb is missing, or the image is so unrealistic that it no longer looks like a living being.

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever makes an image will be charged on the Day of Judgment to breathe a spirit into it, and he will never be able to.” [Bukhari; Muslim]

Two more points. The creature’s fictional status does not change the ruling, because it still has the form of a living being. Using a pre-made model does not change that either, since editing the model and using it in your own work still amounts to making and using the image.

Having the monsters fight is not a separate issue, as long as the game contains nothing else that is impermissible.

The governing principle is that only depictions that no longer read as living beings fall outside the prohibition. So blur or cover the entire face rather than one part of it, or make the creatures look unrealistic enough that they no longer appear as living beings.

And Allah knows best.

[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.